Intel Launches Program to Close the Technology Divide for Women Around the Globe

Today Intel Corporation announced She Will Connect, a new program that commits to expanding digital literacy skills to young women in developing countries. Intel will begin the initiative in Africa, where the gender gap is the greatest, by aiming to reach 5 million women and reduce the gender gap by 50 percent. To achieve this, Intel will work with a diverse set of partners including global and local NGOs and governments.

Findings from the groundbreaking "Women and the Web" report released by Intel in January revealed concrete data on the enormous Internet gender gap in the developing world and the social and economic benefits of securing Internet access for women. The report issued a call to action for stakeholders to double the number of women and girls online in developing countries in three years. She Will Connect demonstrates Intel's commitment to this action by not only providing digital literacy skills to girls and women, but also by pushing the concept of digital literacy forward through new, innovative and scalable models.

"The Internet has transformed the lives of billions of people," said Shelly Esque, vice president of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group and president of the Intel Foundation. "It functions as a gateway to ideas, resources and opportunities that never could have been realized before, but our research shows that girls and women are being left behind. We believe that closing the Internet gender gap has tremendous potential to empower women and enrich their lives as well as all the lives they touch."

In conjunction with She Will Connect, Intel pledged a 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action and is celebrating the United Nations' second International Day of the Girl on October 11. The theme for this year's International Day of the Girl emphasizes the importance of girls' education worldwide.

"When we think about what the world is going to look like in the coming 20 years, we have to do more to make sure that women as well as men, girls as well as boys are empowered to use new technology to further their own aspirations," said Secretary Hillary Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative 2013 annual meeting last week.

She Will Connect will test a new model that integrates digital literacy with gender and development programming targeting women and girls:

Online Gaming Platform - Intel is developing an online gaming platform to innovate the delivery of digital literacy content through an interactive, engaging approach for smartphones and tablets in a game-infused environment. With the gaming platform, learning can take place in a mediated environment, individually, across devices and in the context of a peer network.

Peer Network - Intel and World Pulse are working together to integrate World Pulse's digital empowerment training into existing digital literacy programs and connect women to a safe and supportive peer network. Through the World Pulse platform, women can exchange ideas, find support and mentorship, and obtain relevant content tailored for women. This innovative approach will push the field of digital literacy so learning can take place not only as an individual in a shared computing environment but also through peers.

Beyond Africa, Intel is expanding on its ongoing commitment to empower girls and women globally, with continued work in India with a goal to reach 1 million women with Intel's Easy Steps digital literacy training program in the next year. In Latin America, Intel is partnering with several governments and organizations providing digital literacy training with a special focus on fostering entrepreneurial skills in Columbia, Mexico and Peru.

In addition to launching She Will Connect, Intel is celebrating International Day of the Girl by building on its strong culture of employee volunteerism for Global Giveback Day. Championed by leaders from the Intel Network of Executive Women and the Women at Intel Network, employees will collaborate with organizations in support of education and empowerment of girls and women. Intel is also hosting screenings of the transformational film Girl Rising around the world on October 11 to raise global visibility about the importance of educating girls.

What about the young boys of those "developing countries"? Don't they deserve equal amount of aid?
Is it me only or this biased, sexist, politically correct "aid program" is no different from those breast cancer awareness programs you see everywhere.
Prostate cancer? get the fooh!

Also, isn't it about time for those "developing countries" to start concerning themselves about their exploding fertility rates? Have you seen the fertility rate of those crying mofos? Holy Odin!
If you don't have sufficient goods or services to get by, how are you gonna provide for those newborns?

Lastly, is it me or the people of some geographic regions on this globe are just not able to build western-style operating societies and countries and start harnessing modern technology the way.. say Europeans and East Asians have been doing..

What about the young boys of those "developing countries"? Don't they deserve equal amount of aid?
Is it me only or this biased, sexist, politically correct "aid program" is no different from those breast cancer awareness programs you see everywhere.
Prostate cancer? get the fooh!

Also, isn't it about time for those "developing countries" to start concerning themselves about their exploding fertility rates? Have you seen the fertility rate of those crying mofos? Holy Odin!
If you don't have sufficient goods or services to get by, how are you gonna provide for those newborns?

Lastly, is it me or the people of some geographic regions on this globe are just not able to build western-style operating societies and countries and start harnessing modern technology the way.. say Europeans and East Asians have been doing..

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this is just a PR stunt to boost their share price and their sales, nothing more. Intel doesnt care about anything other than money.

What about the young boys of those "developing countries"? Don't they deserve equal amount of aid?
Is it me only or this biased, sexist, politically correct "aid program" is no different from those breast cancer awareness programs you see everywhere.
Prostate cancer? get the fooh!

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One reason is probably because girls generally are more oppressed (not exactly that word, I forgot it, I HAD IT. Sort of like it, exposed?). Globally.

Bitch all you want (is that a joke right there?), women are still more opressed than men.

And I'm jumping off topic with you: Yes and no to the rape thing. Yes a woman might be able to get a man convicted. Like everywhere else (except in the countries where women have no such rights). But no to the rest of that (I have no idea how you reached that conclusion from that blog). Even with the new law the victim will have to be in a "särskilt utsatt situation" (I don't know how to translate that really. Particularly exposed situation?), which isn't exactly consensual. Like the 15 year old girl with the six dudes raping her, she didn't physically fight because there was six of them. And they were drunk. Not dead drunk mind you, she did try to get away.

Bitch all you want (is that a joke right there?), women are still more opressed than men.

And I'm jumping off topic with you: Yes and no to the rape thing. Yes a woman might be able to get a man convicted. Like everywhere else (except in the countries where women have no such rights). But no to the rest of that (I have no idea how you reached that conclusion from that blog). Even with the new law the victim will have to be in a "särskilt utsatt situation" (I don't know how to translate that really. Particularly exposed situation?), which isn't exactly consensual. Like the 15 year old girl with the six dudes raping her, she didn't physically fight because there was six of them. And they were drunk. Not dead drunk mind you, she did try to get away.

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Not in the West. In fact, women have never been oppressed in the West, since the days of ancient Greece an in every European culture since then. what you speak of is a myth. Feminism is destroying birth rates and marriages, and is an obstacle to true equality and not forced equal outcome.

Apparently these days its ok to be sexist as long as it advantages women.

Why don't they just make the program about educating everyone in 3rd world countries about technology? But I guess that wouldn't get intel favor with western liberal idealists.

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Maybe because it empowers an important group that is highly underprivileged and hence can lessen 3 problems at once: gender inequality, poverty and lack of education.

I do not know whether this will work, but I do know that it may be worthwile because government funded programs are under severe pressure because of governments cutting in their development budgets (while Intel is able to afford such programs).

Bitch all you want (is that a joke right there?), women are still more opressed than men.

And I'm jumping off topic with you: Yes and no to the rape thing. Yes a woman might be able to get a man convicted. Like everywhere else (except in the countries where women have no such rights). But no to the rest of that (I have no idea how you reached that conclusion from that blog). Even with the new law the victim will have to be in a "särskilt utsatt situation" (I don't know how to translate that really. Particularly exposed situation?), which isn't exactly consensual. Like the 15 year old girl with the six dudes raping her, she didn't physically fight because there was six of them. And they were drunk. Not dead drunk mind you, she did try to get away.

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Telling me to "bitch all you want" is a misunderstanding on your part or shows just how reactionary you can be. Let's be serious, you don't like to bust on people, but when it comes back at you, you get a bit tense, no? Anyway, how I "reached that conclusion from that blog" was by reading it; "As we can see the line between normal sex and rape is subtle or non-existent, the sentences are long, the compensations high and there doesn’t have to be any crime, it’s enough that the court believes the woman when she says there was one." The rest of what you said is a non-argument. The situation described involving the 15 year old girl would most likely result in a conviction in at least the US, I can be sure (though factors such as race, socioeconomic class, etc. play a role).

Maybe because it empowers an important group that is highly underprivileged and hence can lessen 3 problems at once: gender inequality, poverty and lack of education.

I do not know whether this will work, but I do know that it may be worthwile because government funded programs are under severe pressure because of governments cutting in their development budgets (while Intel is able to afford such programs).

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Haha, you tell people to move it to GN then you keep going. Don't preach what you don't practice. Anyway, since this is a politically-charged issue (I challenge you to describe how it isn't), we can talk about it here.

"Highly underprivileged", are you sure? What exactly makes women underprivileged in the West? In the Middle East, yes, I think you could definitely make that case. Most of the Western world hasn't forced women into a disadvantaged position for at least 50 years. You do know that no good solid evidence exists for "the wage gap", for instance, right? I think you've had your perception managed and haven't really taken the time to consider how women or men are disadvantaged and yes, some men are definitely disadvantaged.

On education, I find it curious that organizations will fund women entering STEM majors in college. I must be missing something as far as that goes. Are women any more barred from entering STEM majors than men? If they are, I don't see it. It's an exercise of the nature of both genders; men tend more towards the "hard sciences", whereas women tend more towards the "soft sciences" (sociology, psychology, etc. and also majors like Women's Studies or Gender Studies).

No I was refering to the off-topic statement by FrustratedGarrett on feminism, actually, when stating that. My second post is actually supposed to be on topic.
And I was not talking about the West when writing the post you quoted. I was talking about foreign aid budgets being cut into by governments. Sorry if that was unclear. Does the post you quoted make sense to you now? After all, Intel's initiative is not targeting the developed nations.

No I was refering to the off-topic statement by FrustratedGarrett on feminism, actually, when stating that. My second post is actually supposed to be on topic.
And I was not talking about the West when writing the post you quoted. I was talking about foreign aid budgets being cut into by governments. Sorry if that was unclear. Does the post you quoted make sense to you now? After all, Intel's initiative is not targeting the developed nations.